Rich Fiscus
14 Jan 2008 10:19
Last Monday Netflix made some changes to their Streaming video service, known as Watch Instantly. Although there was no big announcement, they began requiring Windows Media Player 11 (WMP 11) for access to the service. While this may seem like a minor change to most people using the service, if you're running Windows Media Center Edition 2002, 2003, or 2004 it means your operating system is no longer supported.
So far Netflix hasn't responded to a press inquiry I submitted nearly a week ago. I called customer service today on the chance that they might be able to tell me something. Although the representative I spoke with was friendly, courteous, and professional, this was the first she'd heard about the issue.
And really it's not an issue with Netflix as much as with Windows Media Player. WMP 11 works fine on a standard Windows XP installation, and even on Media Center Editions from 2005 on. But if you bought into the Microsoft HTPC technology before it reached its fourth generation you're out of luck unless you want to use a hack that will cause the Media Center application to stop working.
At this time the only workarounds for the problem are either upgrading your version of Windows MCE or changing HTPC software. Unfortunately, dropping MCE also requires that you replace your remote as well since no other software is capable of communicating with a MCE remote.
If you're considering a change to keep streaming from Netflix there may not be any good solutions. If you upgrade to a newer version of Windows MCE you're essentially paying Microsoft to fix the problem they caused in the first place, and it will probably cost you a minimum of around $200.
If you go with different HTPC software, such as BeyondTV or SageTV, or even a free option like MythTV, you'll need a new remote, or at least a new sensor for the computer to receive signals from the remote. In addition you may also need to buy a regular copy of Windows XP, or at least learn to hack the version you have to get around Media Center's limitations.
We'll make sure to keep you updated with any new developments - hopefully including a response from Netflix.